Miss Cousin is Always Busy - Chapter 42.2

Qin Youran shut the door in Gao You's face and clicked her tongue.

Originally, Qin Youran still felt a little guilty for ignoring Gao You solely because of Jun Zishu's gut feeling. However, that was no longer the case now.

A few days ago, Gao You had called her father and brought up the matter of her ignoring him. Her father had found this situation strange, so he had given her a call and asked why she was ignoring Gao You. After all, their families had lived together in the past, and they still shared a good relationship even until now.

Qin Youran didn't know how she should answer her father at the time. She couldn't possibly say that she was ignoring Gao You because Jun Zishu was jealous, either. So, she eventually chose to lie and said that she had a bad feeling about Gao You.

Fortunately, her father did not blame her when he heard her excuse. Instead, he investigated Gao You. Then, to his surprise, he found something suspicious.

Some time ago, the Father Qin's business had lost a batch of customers. These customers used to always place their orders with the his company. However, somewhere along the line, they suddenly moved their orders to a different company.

Under normal circumstances, such a shift in loyalty wouldn't warrant any attention. After all, there was no news of any rival companies conducting anti-competitive practices. Father Qin didn't suffer any substantial losses, either, so he did not place much attention on the loss of these customers.

However, when Father Qin looked into Gao You, he found that Gao You was linked to the company that his old customers had defected to. Moreover, the company in question was only a small company.

Father Qin was very surprised and confused by this revelation. After all, if given a choice, his old customers should've prioritized his company instead of a small company. While Father Qin wasn't against letting Gao You have some of his customers, this situation was strange no matter how he looked at it.

After looking deeper into the matter, Father Qin found that the defected customers had only chosen to shift their loyalties because Gao You's company had offered them much more competitive prices. Moreover, Gao You's company had done so at the cost of the company's profits. In other words, Gao You's company wasn't making much money from those customers at all.

This meant that Gao You was conducting cut-throat competition.

However, for what reason was Gao You doing so?

At this time, Father Qin found that his company was in the process of losing another small batch of customers. These customers were gradually shifting their investments to several small companies. Normally, Father Qin wouldn't have noticed such a small outflow of customers. However, it just so happened that he was paying attention to such matters this time.

To Father Qin's dismay, the first of the several small companies he investigated belonged to Gao You as well. This situation caused Father Qin to start growing suspicious. Then, when he recalled the conversation he recently had with his precious daughter, he immediately gave Qin Youran a call and told her to keep her distance from Gao You.

Meanwhile, because of her father's warning, Qin Youran did not hesitate to brush off Gao You as she did just now.

…

When Jun Zishu saw how Qin Youran slammed the door shut on Gao You through Little Fairy's live broadcast, the corners of her mouth curved upward as she let her body sink into the large rattan sofa.

In reality, Jun Zishu hadn't known that Gao You had already begun taking action against Father Qin's business so early on. The information she received did not mention this point. When she first read the information, she had been quite confused as to how Gao You had managed to bring down Father Qin's company so rapidly. At the time, she had assumed that Gao You possessed some sort of amazing ability. However, it turned out that the scumbag had long since been preparing in secret. In other words, in the original storyline, Gao You hadn't caused the Qin family to go bankrupt solely because he was blinded by love and rage.

Jun Zishu couldn't help but shake her head when she came to this realization. Not only was Gao You a scumbag in relationships, but he was also a rabid dog who would bite anyone in sight. After all, according to Jun Zishu's understanding, there shouldn't be any conflicts between the Qin family and the Gao family. On the contrary, the two families even shared a good friendship. For Gao You to take action against the Qin family under such circumstances was simply immoral.

However, this was good news to Jun Zishu. Now that Qin Youran had discovered Gao You's true face in advance, it became even more impossible for the two of them to get together.

Qin Youran had invited many of her friends to her birthday party, so the event was incredibly lively.

"If you don't like to be in such a lively place, you can head back to the room and rest first," Qin Youran said as she looked at the people dancing and drinking like maniacs downstairs. She had turned eighteen today, so her friends would definitely act with even less restraint at her birthday party. Although she could have a lot of fun at such a lively party, she worried that Jun Zishu might not be used to all the noise.

"It's fine. I'll try to get used to it this time. I want to get to know your friends as well," Jun Zishu said as she helped tidy up Qin Youran's shirt.

Qin Youran was stunned. She didn't think Jun Zishu would be so compliant today.

"Then, let's head downstairs?"

"Mhm."

"Okay."

…

"Yoyoyo! The star of the show is finally here!"

Bailu shouted and clapped while everyone else cheered.

"Did something good happen just now? Why is our Young Miss Qin smiling like a flower?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Hearing her friends' words, Qin Youran smiled but did not speak. Though, she was indeed in an ecstatic mood.

In Qin Youran's mind, Jun Zishu was like a god standing high up in the heavens. She would always remain aloof and never mingle with crowds because it'd be boring to do so.

Yet, Jun Zishu had agreed to attend such a lively event today.

To Qin Youran, this was far more than just a simple agreement to attend her birthday party. It was also a silent acknowledgment of their relationship. Thus, Jun Zishu was trying to get to know her friends and lifestyle.

For some inexplicable reason, Qin Youran felt that she didn't even need to wait until a year later to get her wish fulfilled.

…

The stereo speakers in the living room played passionate and romantic music as everyone gathered around a large table. Three decks of poker cards and several bottles of beer were placed on the table. After everyone was seated around the table, a few of Qin Youran's friends revealed excited expressions on their faces.

"Come, come, come! Let's split into groups! We just so happen to have 12 people here today, so we'll split into groups of two! Let's start drawing lots!"

"No way; she needs to be with me," Qin Youran said as she pointed at Jun Zishu.

In response, Bai Lu gestured an 'OK' and said, "You're the star today, so you call the shots."

Nobody had an opinion about Qin Youran's decision since Jun Zishu didn't look like someone who knew how to play card games. Moreover, Qin Youran personally stated that Jun Zishu had never participated in such events before. So, anyone who got paired with Jun Zishu would probably have a much higher chance of losing.

Afterward, the 12 people around the table split into six groups.

"We'll start by playing deuces first. Everyone knows how to play, right? There are three decks of cards here. I'll distribute them evenly to everyone, and whoever finishes discarding all of their cards first wins.

"Of course, there will be a penalty for losing. The first three to finish are safe, but the rest will have to either drink a glass or take off a piece of clothing."

While explaining the game rules, Bai Lu quickly mixed the three decks of cards into one thick deck. Then, she shuffled the deck and began distributing the cards to the six groups.

The game started with players frenziedly discarding their cards when given the opportunity. However, as the number of cards in their hands decreased, everyone started growing increasingly cautious with the cards they discarded. Everyone also wore varying expressions, with some looking excited and some looking nervous.

When Qin Youran was about to discard a small number card in her hand, Jun Zishu stopped her.

"Discard this one," Jun Zishu said as she took out the Queen of Clubs from Qin Youran's hands and discarded it into the pile.

Following Jun Zishu's instructions, Qin Youran eventually managed to finish first place.

"So you were an expert?" Bai Lu asked as she looked at Jun Zishu in surprise. Then, she discarded her last card and secured second place.

The game of deuces continued for three rounds. Meanwhile, Qin Youran and Jun Zishu's group secured first place for all three rounds.

"Where did you find such an expert, Big Sis Ran?" someone asked in a wailing tone.

"Finally afraid now, huh? To tell you the truth, she has already figured out everyone's playing style. She has also memorized what cards everyone has discarded, so she can typically guess what cards everyone has when it's nearing the end of the game. We'd be idiots if we still can't win even after having such an advantage," Qin Youran said, her lips curling up in delight.

"She can memorize so many cards and even guess what we have left? I thought that was something only possible in movies."

"You youngsters should widen your knowledge more."

Qin Youran chuckled as she watched the whining losers down a glass of beer. Jun Zishu's memory was far more impressive than anyone could imagine.

"No more deuces, no more deuces. We stand no chance against her. Let's play a different game."

Afterward, everyone started playing a different card game. Of course, Qin Youran didn't get to win all the time. Like her friends, she also ended up drinking a lot of beer.

As Qin Youran and her friends were too absorbed in their games, they ended up neglecting the birthday cake in the corner. Only after all of her friends had left did Qin Youran remember about the cake's existence.

"How are we supposed to finish such a huge cake with just the two of us? The servants even have the day off today," Qin Youran said, frowning. However, after pondering for a moment, she suddenly grabbed a handful of cake and smeared it on Jun Zishu's face.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu suddenly had half her world darkened. Then, she heard Qin Youran's maniacal laughter coming from beside her.

While Qin Youran was still laughing, Jun Zishu swiftly grabbed some cake and smothered it on Qin Youran's face as payback, which then led to the start of an intense cake war.

After a series of back and forths, the two ended up covered in cake.

Eventually, Qin Youran pressed Jun Zishu against the door and started licking off the cream on Jun Zishu's face. Once Jun Zishu's face was clean, Qin Youran moved on to cleaning Jun Zishu's neck.

Jun Zishu gasped when she felt Qin Youran's soft tongue moving across her collarbone.

"S-Stop… Not here…"

"Okay, but before that, I need to ask you a question."

"Hm?"

"Are you willing to be my girlfriend, Jun Jiayao?"

"I'm willing."